Session Abstracts

DAVIS-SALAZAR, Karla L. (USF) Adaptation and Resilience in Higher Education Leadership. Change in higher education today is constant, whether intentionally led from inside an institution or thrust upon an institution by external forces. Indeed, most higher education institutions hire leaders to be agents of change. The academic leader therefore must be agile, responsive, decisive, and above all must embrace complexity. This panel of higher education leaders will draw on real world situations and personal experiences to explore the work and life of the higher education leader. Adaptation and resilience are proposed as metaphors for understanding higher education leadership in the 21st century. karladavis@usf.edu (F-111)

DE MUNCK, Victor (SUNY New Paltz, Vytautas Magnus U) Constituting the Self-in-the-Group, Parts I-II. The panel consists of recent research on the role of culture in the social construction of groups. Using a variety of systematic methods as well as through conversations with informants, panelists examine how culture is used to endorse and enforce normative institutions. We also examine how individuals perceive membership in the target group, their role in it, and the goals of the group. The groups discussed range from the dyad to the nation. demunckv@gmail.com (S-05, S-35)

DE MUNCK, Victor (SUNY New Paltz, Vytautas Magnus U) and BENNARDO, Giovanni (NIU) Engaging Culture across Disciplines: Is a Unifying Theory of Culture Necessary or Possible?, Parts I-II. The panelists have been enjoined to present their thoughts on the concept of culture. Each panelist is expected to address one or more of the “how, why, what, where, or when” questions concerning culture that is important in their research. Our goal is to clarify some aspect of the cultural concept relevant to one’s area of expertise with an eye toward issues that are also important to the wider socio-behavior community of scholars who use the concept of culture in their work. demunckv@gmail.com (F-102, F-132)

DEACONU, Ana Laura and DECELLES, Stéphane (U Montreal) Nutrition at the Forefront for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, Parts I-II. Diet-related chronic illness is the most widespread health crisis in human history, and is ubiquitous as the number one cause of death in countries of all income levels. Meanwhile, food insecurity and micronutrient deficiency are still pervasive. This double burden of malnutrition has broad-reaching consequences, and multiple disciplines must converge to understand and address it. Most of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require devoted attention to nutrition imperatives for their fulfillment. This session explores a variety of public health nutrition studies and initiatives, each in context of a distinct Sustainable Development Goal. adeaconu@gmail.com (W-16, W-46)

DEMETRIOU, Nicole (Moffitt Cancer Ctr) Creating Sustainable Clinical and Systems Practice. As health care evolves and transforms, social scientists are well-suited to aid in the promotion of sustainable futures, particularly in relation to the training of future health care providers. The panelists in this session speak to the methods employed to ensure that current and future health care providers engage with community partners and foster cultural humility to meet individual treatment goals, promote population health, and engage in self-care. These methods can increase the proficiency and skill sets of future health care professionals, clinics and systems. demicole@yahoo.com (F-124)

DEUBEL, Tara F. (USF) Out Down South: Conserving Oral Histories of LGBT Seniors in Florida through Visual Anthropology. ‘Out Down South’ is an online community initiative founded in 2014 to gather, preserve, and share oral histories of older gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals coming from or living in the U.S. South. Graduate students in a Visual Anthropology seminar at University of South Florida recently initiated the project in Florida and created a series of short videos about the life experiences of LGBT community members residing in the Tampa Bay area. We feature student videos along with a discussion of social and political issues raised in the personal narratives of local participants and the value of conserving oral history. deubel@usf.edu (W-136)

DI GIOVINE, Michael (West Chester U) and BRONDO, Keri (U Memphis) Young Researchers Tackle Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Development. Following on Parts I and II of the session, “Can Tourism Be Mutually Sustainable?: Views from the Inside,” this panel presents original research by emerging scholars. Many of these scholars have worked, or are pursuing a Ph.D., in applied fields of heritage management and urban planning. The range of papers interrogate impacts on indigenous communities from heritage designations, preservation practices, and tourism development. michael@michaeldigiovine.com (W-155)

DI GIOVINE, Michael (West Chester U) and BRONDO, Keri (U Memphis) Can Tourism and Heritage Preservation Be Mutually Sustainable?: Views from the Inside, Parts I-II. Organizations interested in tourism development and those in heritage preservation often see the other as antithetical, and research among anthropologists have shown that we perceive the sustainability of heritage processes through the double-edged sword of human development (see Di Giovine 2017). In light of the UN Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, this 2-part panel interrogates how, and under what circumstances, heritage preservation and tourism development can be mutually sustainable. The presentations in Part 2 focus on applied, case studies in Latin America to assess the outcomes of this UN-designated year, as well as the mutual sustainability of heritage and tourism. michael@michaeldigiovine.com (W-95, W-125)

DU BRAY, Margaret (ISU) and STOTTS, Rhian (ASU) Compelling Conservation: Cultural Benefits and Value of Ecosystems, Parts I-II. Discussions of sustainability often focus on the biophysical domain and leave aside the “intangible” or “subjective” value of the cultural domain, including the significance of spiritual, heritage, and identity values, sense of place, and aesthetic value. While the paradigm of ecosystem services was initially developed to promote conservation of ecosystems and assign monetary valuations to biophysical benefits of the environment, the concept of cultural services has been gaining ground as a way to understand the nonmaterial benefits that people derive from the environment. The papers in this session engage with cultural services and the ecosystem services framework in novel ways. dubrmarg@isu.edu (S-02, S-32)

DURAND, Jorge (U Guadalajara) and FREIDENBERG,Judith (UMD) Immigrant Issues in the Trump Era: Threats, Security and Representation. Trump’s era started with two expeditious executive orders: one, on securing the border and another on controlling immigrants within the US. Their implementation has stumbled over more problems than expected. The perception and representation of migrants as a threat is now central in a divided public opinion and will unquestionably impact future elections. Migrants, especially the undocumented, are considered dangerous to the economy, employment, national security, national culture and identity, impacting citizen coexistence and security. This round table will contribute to reflect on the impact of state management practices on people and to devise collective action to protect human rights. j.durand.mmp@gmail.com (F-63)

EAVES, Emery (NAU) and PENNEY, Lauren (STVHCS) Sustainable Solutions: The Role of Complementary, Integrative, and Traditional Medicines in Addressing Contemporary Health and Social Issues. Biomedical solutions to complex health problems are often partial, and create as many problems as they solve. This panel, sponsored by the Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Integrative Medicine SMA Special Interest Group, explores the role of Complementary, Integrative, and Traditional medicine in providing sustainable, humane, and person-centered care. Papers discuss engagement in traditional medicine for pain and opioid addiction on Tribal lands; Ayurvedic medicine and Yoga therapy to mitigate the need for pharmaceuticals; holistic case management to address opioid addiction and recovery; and persistence of traditional and market medicines in Thailand even in the context of universal healthcare. emery.eaves@nau.edu (W-70)

ENRICI, Ashley (Independent) Sexual Harassment in the Field. Being a woman in the field comes with a unique set of challenges. Many anthropologists experience sexual harassment during fieldwork, yet there are rarely resources or support for those facing these experiences. There is also sometimes a dearth of information, particularly as being in foreign countries comes with unique challenges surrounding foreign laws, socio-cultural norms & expectations. This panel invites all to join a discussion about the challenges of being a woman in the field, including unique challenges faced by women of color and transgender women; and seeks to propose some solutions or future action. enriciam@gmail.com (F-93)

ERICKSON, Jennifer (BSU) Towards an Applied Anthropology of Small Cities. By 2030, the number of cities with more than 10 million residents will grow from 28 to 41, and one eighth of the world’s population will live in them. Megacities get more scholarly attention than small cities, but, in 2014, half of all city dwellers lived in cities with less than 500,000 people. In keeping with this year’s conference theme, “Sustainable Futures,” this panel reflects on sustainability and diversity in and among small cities. Topics include applied anthropological approaches to work with refugees in the U.S. and Germany, homelessness in Trenton, New Jersey, and beautification projects in Leh Town, India. jlerickson@bsu.edu (TH-107)

ESARA CARROLL, Pilapa (SUNY Brockport) The Role of Language in Refugee and Migrant Integration, Parts I-II. With mass displacement from the Syrian civil war, and anti-foreigner rhetoric in North America, scholarly perspectives on debates over integration and the value of migrants are urgently needed. This two-part session focuses on the topic of language acquisition and proficiency with papers covering a range of domestic and international contexts from the U.S. to Lebanon and France. Topics raised will include challenges on the part of local governments or service-providers tasked with providing language services, the ways in which civil society attempts to mediate resource gaps, and the meaning of citizenship, as a marker of integration. pesara@brockport.edu (W-105, W-135)

FAAS, A.J. (SJSU) Culture and Disaster Action Network: What Can We Learn about Culture from Practitioners’ Stories about Their Work on Disasters? Disaster interventions often fail due to mismatches between local and bureaucratic cultures. Problematic assumptions about local needs can go unchecked in policies and practices of intervening state and nongovernmental organizations. Yet, practitioners may also be most aware of cultural gaps and the need to address locally-relevant needs. We examine how culture is imagined and operationalized in international networks of disaster experts and organizations and discuss preliminary findings from interviews conducted at the 2017 UN Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction as part of a longitudinal project examining the production and circulation of knowledge about culture among disaster organizations and professionals. aj.faas@sjsu.edu (TH-136)

FISKE, Shirley and BRONDO, Keri (U Memphis) Environmental Justice in the Post-Trump Era: An Unsustainable Future? As seen through his statements during the 2016 campaign, followed by controversial Secretarial appointments, Executive Orders, and tweets, the current President has encouraged an anti-regulation, anti-climate, and limited government approach to current environmental protections and regulation. This panel brings together anthropological leaders to provide critique and commentary on the impact of contemporary environmental policies and initiatives taking place in the Trump Era. Each panelist is a respected expert in a specific sector of environmental and social justice, ranging from the politics of urban sustainability, to post-disaster recovery, climate change, Superfund legacy and mining waste sites. Assuming human and environmental catastrophes such as public water contamination will continue to occur and likely accelerate with deregulation of key industries, panelists will explore the future of environmental justice and social and community activism in the contemporary US. sfiske@umd.edu (TH-32)

FOSTER, Brian (U Missouri) Capstone Session: Higher Education Topical Interest Group. All attendees with an interest in anthropology of higher education are invited to a broad discussion of issues in the sessions affiliated with the Higher Education Interest Group. The session will also consider possible themes for next year’s meeting and will discuss emerging structural changes for the Interest Group. It will be an open discussion facilitated by Brian Foster. fosterbl@missouri.edu(S-105)

FOSTER, Brian (U Missouri) Disciplinary Influence on Leadership. Most people in higher education leadership roles have had training in a discipline that is framed by narrow and deep expertise that generally has little to do with their operational duties. As new leaders gain the needed skills and knowledge by experience, an important question is how their discipline affects the way they lead and their view of other disciplines. For example, how would a lawyer, sociologist, and business faculty member approach leadership differently? This panel explores how these approaches to leadership and ways of thinking are influenced by worldviews shaped around the leaders’ original scholarship and teaching. fosterbl@missouri.edu (S-15)

FOSTER, Jennifer (Emory U) Women’s Issues for a Sustainable Future. Women are central to sustainability. We explore women’s experience both as humans and as workers in variable contexts. How do Afghan refugee women learn to tell their story? Which Mexican incarcerated women prevent unwanted pregnancy? How do Guatemalan and Salvadoran women understand Gestational Diabetes as a precursor to a chronic illness? As caretakers, what do women know to protect their small children from obesity? As midwives, what is required to keep birth safe in brutal environments? Answers to these questions shed light on the plausibility of a sustainable future. jennifer.foster@emory.edu (TH-135)

FREIDENBERG, Judith (UMD) Expatriation as Human Mobility: Being a US Citizen Abroad. Research on human mobility focuses on immigration at the expense of emigration; on forced migration obscuring professional and lifestyle movements; and on south to north displacements. This session aims to complicate the contemporary narrative of immigration to the US by focusing on research of those who leave it. Drawing from research on US nationals in Latin America, Asia and Europe, the session will spur comparative studies of US nationals abroad, contribute to understanding how life course experiences influence practices of citizenship in or out of the US and assess ways to inform the public and policy makers about US emigration. jfreiden@umd.edu (TH-167)

FRIEDERIC, Karin (WFU) Gendered, Violent Spaces: Power Dynamics and the Technologies of Making Safety or Creating Harm. Technology -specifically the techniques, skills, methods, and processes used to produce an environment that can sustain social life- is capable of producing both safety and harm. These papers consider the creative technologies of violence -originating with the state as well as individual actors- “administered” according to gender and perceived gender roles. This panel collectively interrogates the real and imagined spaces of violence on multiple levels. The discussion addresses safety across sexuality and cultural identity, the impact of the power dynamics created/reinforced by these technologies according to gender and where policy might, instead, sustain safety. friedeku@wfu.edu (S-44)